Friday, December 28, 2007

Police Deaths Up In 2007

"Texas led the nation with 22 fatalities followed by Florida (16), New York (12), and California (11). The report includes the death of 17 federal law enforcement officers, including five Air Force Office of Special Investigations agents killed in two bombings in Iraq.

The report counted six times in which multiple officers were shot and killed in the same incident, such as the September shooting in Odessa, Texas that left three officers dead while responding to a domestic violence call. Domestic violence and traffic stops were the circumstances that most commonly led to fatal police shootings this year, the report found."

So then how strange is it that the most populist states see the most officers killed in the line of duty? The populations rise each and every year, and one would suppose that the number of violent confrontations with thugs would rise accordingly, but anyone unaware of the simple fact that various affirmative action laws mean less qualified cops on the beat needs to GET aware. We all know of the certain percent of the population that commits the largest percent of the crime. But concentrating on them would be profiling so let the street cop pay the price.

What is truly amazing is the relative scarcity of officers killed in encounters with violent criminals. Hundreds of thousands of robbers, rapists, muggers, and gangsters shot and killed only 69 officers? One is too many, and I'm awaiting a list of citizens killed by crooks but that certainly won't be featured on anyone's page one. The police should be grateful of the fact that we the people send millions of bad guys packing and give our lives far more often than they do in the protection of America.

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